Imagine the Cleveland Cavaliers having to play the L.A. Clippers and Golden State, three days apart, with their playoff future hanging in the balance. That’s pretty much the scenario for the Minnesota volleyball team the next few days.

On Wednesday, No. 2 Minnesota will play host to top-ranked Nebraska Wednesday and third-ranked Wisconsin Saturday, sold-out matches that will be aired live on the Big Ten Network. All three teams are locks to host first- and second-rounds NCAA tournament Dec. 1-3, but victories this week might mean staying home for regional matches Dec. 8-10, as well.

Related Articles

In other words, Gophers sweep likely means they could qualify for their second-straight Final Four by winning four home games. Minnesota, by the way, hasn’t lost at home in more than two years — to, you guessed it, Nebraska.

The last time the teams met, Oct. 23 in Lincoln, the defending national champs won in five sets, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 15-8. Afterward, Nebraska coach John Cook called it “a Final Four-type match,” and fans at the Sports Pavilion can expect more of the same.

Here are some things that will be crucial for the Gophers to notch a W:

This is the mantra of Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon, who is typically the picture of calm on the sidelines — with the exception of last weekend’s erratically-officiated, five-set win over Michigan — and expects the same from his team. A few reasons that could be tough tonight:

The sold-out crowd will be loud; tickets are going for quintuple their face value on Stub Hub.

It’s something of a revenge match, since Nebraska gutted out a win over the Gophers exactly a month ago in Lincoln.

The Gophers have only beaten Nebraska two of the past 13 times they’ve played, including last season in Lincoln.

Those NCAA tournament ramifications. Neither team wants to give the NCAA selection committee room to think they’re not worth of hosting a regional.

THINK ON THE FLY

“I’m not sure it’s about the plan you start with,” McCutcheon said of the Nebraska match. “It’s how you adjust.”

The Gophers have been led by senior Sarah Wilhite, second in the conference with 4.13 kills per set. The Eden Prairie native has stepped up in the absence of All-American Daly Santana, who graduated after last season, increasing both her productivity (she averaged 2.56 kills last season) and efficiency (.247 last season, .293 this season).

All-American middle blocker Hannah Tapp is hitting .340 and notches 2.8 kills per set, and freshman Alexis Hart had breakout performances in victories over Michigan and Michigan State last weekend. She’s now averaging 2.93 kills a set.

Quarterbacking the team is sophomore setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson, who will face a Cornhuskers squad that, like the Gophers, has strong hitters at every position, which means they can adjust to specific matchups and feed whoever has the hot hand. The Huskers are led by senior Kadie Rolfzen and sophomore Mikaela Foecke.

All of those players know a lot about each other already and, in fact, Cook seems pretty certain of what he’ll be seeing Wednesday, saying of Minnesota this week, “They don’t change, they stay in (their system) and … that’s the system that they play.”

McCutcheon has done some tinkering since the earlier matchup — for instance, switching twins Paige and Hannah Tapp in the lineup to give Hannah more options on offense — but fans will have to wait until Wednesday to see if there are any November surprises.

AVOID JUSTINE WONG-ORANTES

Every hitter in the Big Ten who doesn’t have an “N” on her jersey is thrilled that Nebraska’s libero is a senior. The best back row specialist in the conference — and probably the nation — alters matches by digging seemingly un-diggable balls, keeping points alive and frustrating opposing hitters. Against Minnesota last month, Wong-Orantes set a Nebraska match record with 35 digs. Although flashy offense tends to wow crowds, she likely affected the match more than any player on either team. In Minneapolis, the Gophers will be hoping she digs at a rate closer to her average of four per set.

WIN THE SERVICE GAME

The teams are nearly dead in even in many statistical categories, except in the service game. Nebraska leads the Big Ten in team hitting at .300, with Minnesota right behind at .296. Nebraska is second in blocks, 2.87 per set, and Minnesota is third (2.79). Minnesota has the fewest blocks scored against them, 1.71 per set, closely followed by Nebraska (1.72).

But the Gophers have a statistical advantage in service. Both teams average about 1.2 aces per set, but Minnesota has slightly more overall (119-110) and has achieved them with about half as many errors — 89 compared to 174. Both teams favor float serves that skim the net and then drop quickly, making it difficult for the opponent to set up the offense.

Aces are not the only measure of effective serving, but if the Gophers can win the service game and keep Nebraska out of its system, they will have won a big part of the battle.

IF YOU GO

Chris Hewitt was the Pioneer Press movie critic and then an arts and entertainment reporter from 1993 to 2017.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in Minnesota Gophers

Nate Mason rolled down his sock and pulled up the cuff of his compression pants to reveal a big bruise on his right shin during pregame warmups Wednesday at Williams Arena. The blue mark — from being tripped late in Monday’s overtime loss to rival Wisconsin — was the latest hurdle heading into the senior guard’s final game at the...

Safety Ken Handy-Holly has made a decision to leave the Gophers football team, a school spokesman said. The freshman from Jackson, Ala., had 12 tackles, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble in eight games last season. He had his redshirt removed after Antoine Winfield Jr., was injured in the Big Ten opener against Maryland on Sept. 30. Handy-Holly was rated...

Carlie Wagner wore a perplexed look when she missed her fourth consecutive 3-pointer during the third quarter against Indiana on Tuesday at Williams Arena. This was not how the senior from New Richland, Minn., expected her final game at the Barn to go down. So, on the ensuing possession, she stole a Hoosiers pass and raced downcourt for a contested...

Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino said he stayed out of center Reggie Lynch’s decision to drop his appeals in the University of Minnesota’s decision to expel him for his role in two sexual misconduct incidents. “We’ve kind of focused on what we have here,” Pitino said Tuesday. “(Lynch) made decisions on how he wanted to go about it, with...

Nate Mason’s career stats reflect that of an all-time Gopher great, but on many occasions when the stage he was set to play on grew bigger and brighter, setbacks soon followed. When the all-Big Ten first-team guard made his first NCAA tournament appearance last season, he injured his hip and limped through the first-round upset loss to Middle Tennessee State....